Health is a monumental part of our well being as anyone could tell you from reading Healthy Voyager.
When we are healthy we are happy. Great health eliminates or at least mitigates many problems we see when we become overweight (or obese) but one thing we have neglected are our fuzzy little friends.
Did you know that our pets are experiencing the same health dilemmas as we do? An article I found over on CBSNews.com really put things into the light:
“Just over half of dogs in the United States are overweight or obese, and 58 percent of cats are carrying too many pounds, according to a survey from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention.”
It made me begin to look around and see what sort of things were happening with people I know that were animal lovers and pet owners.
We love our pets but I’m sure you have done this at some point:
∙ Slopped the left overs into the dogs’ bowl
∙ Blindly poured a mound of food for your cat
∙ Drop a huge handful of palettes in for the rabbit
We become so worked up about working and developing our healthy lifestyles, yet we don’t do the same for our pets? Wouldn’t you say that’s a little hypocritical?
Our pets can develop similar risks as we would find in our bodies, whether it’s the development of diabetes or worn down joints due to excessive weight.
But we can do better for our fuzzy friends…
The best part about waking up to what we’re doing wrong with pet care is that it also makes us aware of our choices, too.
For example:
∙ Are we truly staying accurate with food portions?
∙ Are we really getting enough exercise?
∙ Are we eating the best foods?
When you see these discrepancies you can begin to use how you treat your pet the same as you would treat your body. The best part is that they both are mutually agreeable in terms of being well.
I know this because I’ve gone through it. I allowed my cat to balloon up just as I had because I wasn’t paying attention to health.
What got things going in the right motion?
1. A trip to the vet resulted in diagnosed problems and a new regimen of pet medications.
2. I began to look at my lifestyle choices in terms of healthy eating and exercise along with researching my pet’s diet and activity.
3. I purchased better food for the both of us that would help keep a balanced diet.
4. We both became active – I would include additional play time throughout the day which for me actually did get challenging (up and down those stairs isn’t easy!).
I know this all comes across as some kind of mix between someone trying to fix their health and one of those “crazy cat people” type rants but I think there are great parallels we can learn from it all. If you were to see a child becoming overweight then you would naturally look toward the parent; our pets are the same way because it’s our job to take care of them just as we take care of our bodies.
Do you feel the same way?
